


two of cups

by transatem



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Developing Relationship, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 06:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13452246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transatem/pseuds/transatem
Summary: upright: unified love, partnership, attraction, relationships, balance, harmony





	two of cups

Now that there wasn’t a weird demon who liked to commit murder possessing his body, Ryou could do a lot of things that he couldn’t before. He forgot that sometimes. He could do things like make plans without having to worry that he wouldn’t be able to come because of his body being hijacked, or make friends without having to worry that he’d wake up one day and find that their soul had wound up trapped in a doll. He was free now, and something about that was...unsettling, unsettling like he had been violently thrown from place to place all his life and had just gotten used to it, accepted it, and now he had been placed gently down on the floor and told he could walk again.

One day, Malik laughed at something he said, and as Ryou took in every little feature on his smiling face he realized that he could date now.

That was a weird thought, to be sure. He’d never even...considered it before, not even considered that he couldn’t, but of course it wouldn’t have been a possibility when he had a shared body. There was no way he’d be able to count on the other Bakura to not hurt anyone he loved. But now...now he was free. And as strange and unsteady a feeling as that was, he was still free, and Malik’s laugh looked like sunshine and every conversation they had flowed like water and he wished it could last forever. Malik knew, too, the strange sensation of being free, of having to learn how to walk again.

Malik knew about hatred, and about loss. He knew about things that can never be forgotten and things you did that can never be forgiven. He was trying to move on, too. And every time they talked, they knew that about each other, an unspoken gentleness, a familiarity in the air. They didn’t have to talk about it too much. Mostly, they talked about card games and life events and he showed Malik how to read tarot cards, but somehow, it felt like the most fun he’d had in forever.

(“Looks like you have some romance in your future! Lucky,” Ryou says as he turns over the Two of Cups. He tries to ignore how fast his heart starts beating. Malik laughs, and is quiet for a long time before he says, almost hesitantly, “Do you think the cards really know all of that?”

Later that night, Ryou pulls a card for his own future before he goes to bed at a too-late hour, and it’s the Two of Cups. He goes to bed and dreams of a bright, sharp-toothed smile.)

“Do you know how to dance?” Malik asks him one day, sitting on the bed as Ryou puts away the new summoning candles he was showing him. Ryou looks back at him, and says, “Uhhh...not really. Why?”

“Do you want to dance with me?”

He can’t make himself say no, but it turns out Malik doesn’t really know how to dance either. They keep stepping on each other’s feet, and it’s mainly just a lot of swaying and trying to go around in circles. The cheesy, too-romantic, jazzy song blaring out of Ryou’s phone is just making it worse, and neither of them can stop laughing for long enough to care that they’re doing it horribly wrong.

“I have a confession.” Malik says, with a smile in his voice and on his face.

“Say it.” Ryou has almost gotten the hang of not stepping on his feet, but he still has to look down to make sure.

“I’ve never actually danced before.”

Ryou throws his head back and laughs, and realizes there was a time where he never laughed. And there was a time where he never danced badly with someone in his room, and there was a time where he dreamed of blood and shadows every night instead of laughter and a bright smile. They’re both silent for a while, but that gentle familiarity is still in the air, making every breath taste sweet. Ryou thinks that they both might know, but he looks away from his feet and up at Malik anyway.

“I love you.”

And Ryou has a new smile to dream about, one that lights up Malik’s entire face with happiness and makes his cheeks flush dark. “I love you too.”


End file.
